Book cover of What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You

Book description

'An outstanding debut' CHERIE JONES, author of How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her House

'Vivid and authentic' LEONE ROSS, author of This One Sky Day

'Cacophonic, alive and heartbreaking' KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE, author of The Mercies

As featured on BBC's Cultural Frontline podcast

At eighteen years old, Dinah gave away…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The love triangle in this debut novel is unusual but wholly believable, when you consider the history between its two settings: Jamaica and the USA. A frightened 18-year-old from Kingston’s inner city gives up her baby to the wealthy American couple for whom she works as a maid. Years later when a young American man and his parents come to the island, Dinah is convinced that he is her long-lost son, and she cannot be unconvinced. At the end, we think about the astonishing ways love crosses but never dissolves barriers of race, class, national origin, and above all, family.…

If you love What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You...

Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

Want books like What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You.

Browse books like What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You

Book cover of Love in the Time of Cholera
Book cover of The Dutch House
Book cover of Love After Love

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,343

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like What A Mother's Love Don't Teach You, you might also like...

Book cover of Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman by Alexis Krasilovsky,

Kate from Jules et Jim meets I Love Dick.

A young woman filmmaker’s journey of self-discovery, set against a backdrop of the sexual liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman, we follow Ana Fried as she faces the ultimate…

Book cover of Malcolm Before X

Malcolm Before X by Patrick Parr,

Malcolm Before X is about finding a way to continue moving forward after everything has been taken from you. While in prison, Malcolm Little discovered the power of reading and found a way to transform his character and become a better man. This half-biography focuses on that transformation, especially his…

5 book lists we think you will like!